CFOP Cross: How to Do the Cross on the Bottom in 8 Moves

How is the CFOP cross different from the beginner white cross?

The goal is exactly the same: four white edges around the white centre, and the other sticker of each edge matches the side centre next to it. What changes is how you get there:

• White face on the bottom. According to the SpeedSolving Wiki, most cubers recommend doing the cross on the bottom: you can see the pieces for the next step, F2L, and you don't lose time turning the cube over when you're done (SpeedSolving Wiki).
• Think about all four edges at once. Beginners place one edge at a time. Fast cubers look for one move that puts two edges in place, or line up two edges correctly with each other first and only then turn the whole bottom face.
• Plan before the timer starts. At a WCA competition you get under 15 seconds to inspect the cube. Go over 15 seconds and you get a 2-second penalty; go over 17 seconds and that solve is cancelled (WCA Regulations). Those fifteen seconds are mostly spent finding a solution for the cross.

How many moves does the cross take?

The SpeedSolving Wiki says the cross can always be solved in 8 moves or fewer, and J Perm gives the same number (J Perm). With one fixed cross colour, the shortest solution averages about 5.8 moves (SpeedSolving Wiki).

So if your cross usually takes 10 to 15 moves, that's a sign you're still placing one edge at a time, beginner style. You don't need the shortest possible solution, but about 8 moves is a good goal. J Perm says that with the right practice, the cross can be done in under 5 seconds (J Perm).

How to hold the cube and read the pictures

Throughout this post, hold the cube like this:

• White face on the bottom, yellow face on top.
• Green face in front. Then the right face is orange, the left face is red and the back face is blue.
• The edge to place in the examples is the white-green edge. Its spot is between the bottom face and the front face.

Each picture has two cubes. The cube on the left is the case you're looking at: only the white-green edge and the centres are coloured, every other piece is grey. The cube on the right is the result after the move sequence, turned over so the white face is on top so you can see the edge is back in place. When you solve for real, you don't need to turn the cube over.

The pictures only show three faces: top, front and right. Stickers on the left, back or bottom face are hidden, so the note under each picture tells you which sticker you can't see.

If you're not used to the notation R, L, U, D, F, B yet, read Rubik's Cube notation for beginners first. D means turning the bottom face, clockwise when you look at it from below.

Edge in the top layer (the yellow layer)

This is the easiest group. First turn U so the edge sits right above the centre that matches its non-white sticker (here: right above the green centre). A U move doesn't touch the bottom face, so it can't break anything.

White sticker facing up. Turn the front face twice: F2. The edge drops straight down into place.

The cube on the right has been turned over (white face on top), so the white-green edge now shows on the top face. The moves are right: in your hands, it's on the bottom face.

White sticker facing the front. The edge is in the right spot but flipped. Use U' R' F R: U' pushes the edge to the right, R' brings it down to the front-right edge (white sticker facing right), F moves it into place with the white sticker on the bottom, and R puts the white-orange edge back where it was on the bottom face.

A tip for both cases: if the white sticker faces up, the edge goes down with one half turn. If the white sticker faces outwards, it needs a few more moves to flip it.

Edge in the middle layer

The edge is in one of the four upright edges of the middle layer. The general rule: turn the face that holds the edge's coloured (non-white) sticker, in the direction that moves the white sticker down. But before you turn, the bottom face must have an empty spot right below the edge. If it doesn't, turn D to make that spot, then turn D back when you're done.

At front-right, white sticker facing right. The green sticker is already on the front face, right above where it needs to go. One move: F.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Remember: the cube on the right has been turned over so the white face is on top. The edge showing on the top face is correct, because in your hands it's already on the bottom face.

At front-left, white sticker facing left. This is the mirror of the case above: F'.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In the before picture, the white sticker is on the left face, so it's hidden. You only see the green sticker in the left column of the front face.

At front-right, white sticker facing the front. The green sticker is on the right face, so you have to turn the right face. The white-green edge's empty spot is on the front, not under the right face, so first turn D to move the empty spot to the right: D R' D'. The final D' puts everything on the bottom face back where it was.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

At front-left, white sticker facing the front. Mirror: D' L D.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In the before picture, the green sticker is on the left face, so it's hidden. You only see the white sticker in the left column of the front face.

At back-right, white sticker facing the back. Same idea: D R D'.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In the before picture, the white sticker is on the back face, so it's hidden. You only see the green sticker in the middle of the far-right column of the right face.

At back-left, white sticker facing the back. Mirror: D' L' D.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

This edge is completely on the hidden side: white sticker on the back face, green sticker on the left face. So the before picture shows none of its stickers, only the centres. The after picture shows it back in place.

When you solve for real, you won't remember each of these sequences. You only need the rule: find the face with the coloured sticker, make an empty spot with D, turn that face, then turn D back.

Edge in the bottom layer, but wrong

In the right spot but flipped (white sticker facing the front, green sticker underneath). Do F' D R' D'. F' lifts the edge into the middle layer, at front-right with the white sticker facing the front. The other three moves are exactly the D R' D' case from above.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

The cube on the right is still turned over so the white face is on top, which is why the fixed edge shows on the top face. In the before picture, the green sticker is on the bottom face, so it's hidden. You only see the white sticker in the middle of the bottom row of the front face.

On the bottom face but in the wrong spot. Turn the side face holding the edge twice (for example R2 if it's under the right face) to bring it up to the top layer, then treat it like the first group. For example, with the white-green edge under the right face: R2 U F2. R2 brings it up to the top-right edge, U moves it right above the green centre, and F2 brings it down into place. In the picture, the white-orange edge is waiting at the top-right edge with its white sticker facing up, so that same R2 also puts it in place.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In the before picture, the white sticker of the white-green edge is on the bottom face, so it's hidden. You only see the green sticker in the middle of the bottom row of the right face. The white-orange edge is easy to see: white sticker on the top face, orange sticker in the middle of the top row of the right face.

Once you get the hang of it, you'll find you often don't need to bring it up at all: the white edges just need to be in the right places relative to each other, as explained below.

Line up the edges relative to each other

This is the most important idea of the CFOP cross. Two white edges only need to be in the right order with each other; they don't have to sit under the right centres yet. With green in front, going round the bottom face from front to right, the correct order is: green, orange, blue, red.

Example: the white-green edge is under the back face and the white-red edge is under the right face. Neither is under its own centre, but their order relative to each other is right. One final D2 puts both in place at the same time. In the picture, those two edges are coloured:

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

In the before picture, the white-green edge is completely on the hidden side (white sticker on the bottom face, green sticker on the back face), so you can't see any of its stickers. For the white-red edge, the white sticker on the bottom face is hidden, and you only see the red sticker in the middle of the bottom row of the right face. The cube on the right has been turned over so the white face is on top, so both edges show on the top face.

That's why CFOP solvers usually just turn D to fix the positions at the very end of the cross.

J Perm's advice points the same way: an efficient solution comes from seeing how the cross pieces affect each other, not from placing one edge at a time (J Perm).

Example solution: a cross in 6 moves

Hold the cube with the white face on the bottom and the green face in front, then do this scramble:

F2 U R' D2 B L' U2 F R D' L B2

Now the four white edges are here:

• White-orange: top layer, at the top-right edge, white sticker facing up.
• White-green: top layer, at the top-left edge, white sticker facing up.
• White-red: middle layer, front-right edge, white sticker facing the front.
• White-blue: bottom layer, under the left face, flipped (white sticker facing left).

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

The cube on the right has been turned over (white face on top), so the finished cross shows on the top face. In the before picture, the white-blue edge is completely on the hidden side (left and bottom faces), and the green sticker of the white-green edge is on the left face, so it's hidden too.

The solution R' U B2 D2 R' B', move by move:

1. R': the white-red edge goes down to the bottom face, white sticker facing down. At the same time, the white-orange edge goes from the top layer down to the middle layer, at front-right, white sticker facing the front. One move does two jobs.
2. U: moves the white-green edge to the back.
3. B2: the white-green edge goes down to the bottom face, under the back face. Now green is at the back and red is on the right: the right order relative to each other, even though they're not in place yet.
4. D2: both edges go into place. The flipped white-blue edge also moves along to under the right face, white sticker facing right.
5. R': the white-orange edge goes down into place under the right face. The white-blue edge is pushed up to the back-right edge, white sticker still facing right.
6. B': the white-blue edge goes down into place under the back face. Cross done.

We had a computer search every possible solution on the simulator: for this scramble, no cross solution is shorter than 6 moves.

Try it yourself: one more scramble

Hold the cube as above and do this scramble:

R2 D' B2 L U' F2 R' D B' L2 U F'

Try to find a solution in 8 moves or fewer before reading on. One 6-move solution, the shortest possible according to the simulator, is U' B' R L' D' L. Look at the L' move: it lifts the white-red edge (already in place) into the middle layer for a moment so the white-blue edge can go in first, and then the final L puts the red edge back. Breaking a finished edge for a moment to get a shorter solution is perfectly normal in the CFOP cross.

1. You start with (input)
3. After the formula

Like the other pictures, the cube on the right has been turned over so the white face is on top.

How to do the cross faster: how to practise

1. Practise with the white face on the bottom from the start. It will be slow at first because you can't see the bottom face. Tilt the cube to look, and practise working out where an edge is from the colours on the side faces.
2. Inspect with no time limit. Scramble the cube, find the whole cross solution before making any move, then do it without looking again. If the cross is right when you finish, your plan worked. J Perm also suggests practising inspection with no time limit first, and only then squeezing it into 15 seconds (J Perm).
3. Count your moves. Write the solution on paper and count. If it's more than 8 moves, look for another way to solve the same scramble.
4. Time your inspection. Use the EasyRubic 3x3 timer and set a 15-second limit for finding the solution.
5. Watch other people solve. J Perm recommends watching solve videos that explain each step, because the same case has lots of different good solutions (J Perm).

Common mistakes

• Forgetting to undo the D move. You turn D to make an empty spot, put the edge in, but don't turn D back. The new edge is right, but the earlier ones are now out of line.
• Doing the cross on top and then turning the cube over. You still get a cross, but you lose time turning it over and you lose your view of the F2L pieces.
• Placing one edge at a time like a beginner. A 12-move cross is still a cross, but it's a sign you're not yet using moves that place several edges at once.
• Memorising every sequence. The sequences in this post are there to show you the idea. When you solve, an edge is rarely exactly like the picture, because the other pieces are out of place too.

Next step

Once your cross is down to about 8 moves, the next step is pairing up F2L. The post What is CFOP has the overall roadmap. If you're still using the layer-by-layer method, look back at step 1 "White cross" of the guide:

Read on in the CFOP series: X-cross (doing the cross together with the first F2L pair) and Intuitive F2L.

With the EasyRubic app, you can scan your real cube with the camera and see the solution step by step on a 3D cube. Get EasyRubic and start practising the cross on the bottom today.

Video

Want to see it in motion? The short video below from the EidenCubing channel on YouTube shows more on this topic. The video belongs to that channel and is embedded directly from YouTube.

Sources

• Cross (SpeedSolving.com Wiki)
• Advanced Cross – J Perm
• CFOP Method – J Perm
• WCA Regulations